ghodgson, yes, it was the legit 4.1 SpywareBlaster proggy afaik, it did have the javacool LLC text under the exe ... I re-installed, disabled all protection, then immediately removed it via add/remove, then re-booted

SpywareBlaster isn't capable of causing the problems you described (it mainly deals with incoming targets via Internet Explorer, Firefox, and other browsers - it doesn't mess with any system settings that would cause problems starting other anti-spyware programs).

In addition, if you reinstalled and Disabled All Protection (as you mentioned doing), all changes made to your system by SpywareBlaster were reverted - so there shouldn't be anything left that could even potentially be the cause of a conflict.

Based on the error messages you provided, it sounds like there may be a permissions problem on your Windows system. Are you running on an Administrator or Limited User account? Can you manually browse to, for example, the directory in which Spybot is installed? (Since it's giving an "unable to create directory, access denied" error.)

I wouldn't have thought SB could damage or change settings either (unless it was the wrong S/B as opposed to the correct SB) anyway it was legit ... but a very unusual coinicidence ... all other proggies stopped working the day after SB was installed

this is a general use computer, 4 separate users, with separate log ons, which I don't normally use ... I have been trying to keep it clean (2 teenagers) and SB seemed a good idea ... still, it's odd other proggies stopped working after SB install ... CCleaner at least got it working again, altho the other proggies still do not work ?? ... that is what I don't understand

yes, I can still browse anywhere, there shouldn't be any admin/user or permission issues, but I will check ... no telling what infection mighta got picked up from "myspace" or "utube" or wherever teenagers go ?? ... any further suggestions ? ... thanks

Hi,
What I would do now is uninstall the proggs you mentioned (spybot, ad aware malwarebytes anti-malware, super anti-spyware pro) and reinstall the ones you need from scratch with fully updated programmes/definitions. I personally wouldn't bother with ad aware, specifically if you use SAS pro. I imagine you use the immunisation feature in Spybot for IE ?, why not change to a more secure browser such as Firefox or Opera ? Since I have been using Opera I haven't had any infections/malware at all.
When you have reinstalled SAS do a full scan and see what you get.
What about turning on system restore, when everything is back to normal ?
Gordon